Comfortable
by Litanya
Summary: He opened his mouth to say no, but the words wouldn't come. She had faced rejection so many times he couldn't let her face it again. [Taijun]


Litanya: This is just a fic I found on my computer, so I'll upload it now.

This fic came to me when I was thinking about the Sorato ending of 02. I hate that ending, but I have heard that Tai ended up with Jun, and this is just my version of how that could happen. My preferred couple is Taiora, but I wanted to try Taijun just because it is new to me. Other couples in this fic are Sorato, a little bit of Takari (but not much really) and a hint of Koumi. The couples are like this because this is how I was told the 02 couples were at the end. I know that Takari isn't one of them but… this is when those two are 14, so time can change things. This is very pro-Jun by the way. I don't own Digimon.

Summary: "He opened his mouth to say no, but the words wouldn't come. She had faced rejection so many times; he couldn't let her face it again…" Taijun

_**Comfortable**_

Time was passing by very slowly for seventeen year old Taichi Kamiya. The wild-haired leader of the older digidestined, who had just begun his final year of high school, was finding it hard to concentrate in his chemistry class. It was almost the end of the day, and as chemistry was a class that Taichi barely understood, time seemed to stretch so that one second felt almost like an eternity.

"…and that concludes this lesson on nucleophilic reactions. I hope you all paid attention- we have a test on this topic next Friday and those who do not do well will have some explaining to do. This is your final year and exams will soon be upon us. You need to do well. You may go now," Taichi sighed in relief. The lesson was finally over. He didn't care about the test- he would worry about that later. For now all he could feel was relief about the end of the lesson.

"Hey Taichi, do you have soccer tonight? Sora, Takeru, Hikari and I are going to see a movie. We were wondering if you wanted to come," Taichi's best friend, Yamato Ishida, asked as they walked along the corridors of the school to their lockers. Taichi quickly thought up an excuse.

"I don't have practice tonight, but my parents threatened to kill me if I didn't study. I'm sorry; I won't be able to go. My stupid parents have decided that I don't do enough work and they have practically grounded me until exams. Hikari laughed at me and told me that it served me right for not doing any work last year," what he had said was true- he _was_ grounded. But he was allowed to go out once a month with friends, and he was allowed to attend soccer practice and soccer games. The odd digidestined meeting was also allowed. He hadn't gone out that month however, and so he would have been allowed to go to the movies if he had wanted to. The truth was however, that he just did not want to go. He loved his best friends- Sora and Yamato were fun to hang around with- and his little sister Hikari and her boyfriend Takeru were also good to be around, but not in a movie theater. He had gone to the movies with them once, and he had vowed to never go with them again, or at least not until he had a girlfriend. It seemed that the movie theater was a great place for couples to go, and Taichi had felt left out, as he had had no girlfriend. He still didn't have one, and so he decided not to go. Besides that, he felt that he probably _should_ study for his chemistry test.

"Yeah, I thought that I heard Hikari talking to Takeru about you being grounded, but I wasn't sure. That really sucks. But I suppose we all have to start thinking about exams soon," the blond sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Not that I really need these exams anyway. I still want to become a musician, no matter how much my father wants me to be an astronaut! Anyway, you'll have to come next time. We'll find a way for you to sneak around your parents." Taichi didn't doubt that they would. Yamato and Sora had helped him escape from his apartment many times over the years. Sora had first helped to escape from his parents when he had been five- he had wanted to play soccer and his parents wouldn't let him. He and Yamato reached their lockers and as Taichi opened his locker, a plain white envelope fell out onto the floor. He frowned at it- he didn't remember seeing that before his chemistry class- but he just put his chemistry books into his locker and picked the letter up off the floor. He could see now that it was a letter- his name was printed neatly on the envelope and the envelope itself had been sealed. He sighed as he opened it. He occasionally received letters from girls who wanted to date him, and this looked a lot like another letter of the sort. Yamato was watching him open the letter with a grin on his face. Taichi chose to ignore him.

"Oh look, you've got another love letter. Who wants to go out with you now?" but Taichi wasn't paying attention. The letter wasn't like all of the others. This letter was written in an untidy scrawl which suggested that the writer had not had much time to write it. The paper was plain A4 paper- the type that he used to write his class notes on, but it had been torn in half. The writer had not wanted to waste paper it seemed.

_Dear Taichi,_

_I was wondering if you could meet me after school today next to the soccer pitch. I just want to talk- that's all. I promise that I don't want anything more. If you are able to, please meet me at around 3:45 at the soccer pitch._

_Thank you_

_Jun Motimya_

Taichi was confused. Why would Jun want to talk to him? Yamato was still watching him, and he seemed to take Taichi's confusion to mean that Taichi could not decipher the writing.

"If you can't read it, I'll read it for you and tell you what it says," he offered, holding his hand out for the letter. Taichi shook his head.

"I can read it… it just doesn't make much sense. I mean… she- never mind. I'm sure that I can sort it out," he tucked the letter into his pocket and ignored Yamato's inquiring look.

"Does that mean that you are going to actually go out with this girl?" Taichi had never accepted the offers in his letters. Yamato and one of their other friends Willis had often joked that Taichi had never really had a girlfriend because he was gay, but Taichi just rolled his eyes and said 'whatever' whenever they did that. Willis had often jokingly asked him out on a date. Everyone knew and accepted the fact that Willis was not a heterosexual, and Taichi always knew that his friends were just teasing him because he just refused to have a girlfriend. Sure, he was the captain of the school's soccer team, but that did not mean that he _had_ to have a girlfriend. He was just expected to, he supposed.

"No, I never said that. Besides, this isn't a letter asking me if I would date anyone. It's just a letter from someone to me. It's unusual yes, but it does happen occasionally," Yamato just raised an eyebrow.

"Hey guys, are you ready to go?" Sora, Taichi's female best friend, asked as she came up behind them. She already had her bag packed and she was hugging a book that obviously didn't fit into her bag closely to her chest. Her short auburn hair had been forced into a ponytail that morning, and it was now falling down around her face. She pushed one of the strands that had fallen back behind her ear with a resigned sigh. She knew that it was almost impossible to keep her hair away from her face, but she tried.

"Taichi got another letter, but he won't tell me what it said," Yamato announced as he finished packing his bag, "And he got really annoyed at me for enquiring what it is. Maybe he's got a secret girlfriend." Sora turned to Taichi, interested in this new gossip. She had felt a little uncomfortable displaying her feelings for Yamato whenever Taichi was around. She had been his best friend almost since they were both in diapers and she felt as though she was leaving him out when she was with Yamato. That's why she hoped that he would get a girlfriend soon, so she wouldn't have to feel guilty about being with Yamato.

"I don't have a secret girlfriend," Taichi said before she could ask him if it was true, "And the letter is not from anyone wanting to be my girlfriend, at least not from what I can gather. Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't, but I don't have a clue." Sora hid a smile. Taichi was obviously grumpy because of the letter, and that usually told her that it was indeed a letter from a girl who had declared her undying love for Taichi. But she didn't mention it again. When Taichi was grumpy, it was best to avoid confrontation.

"Okay. Are you coming to the movies tonight?"

"I can't, I'm grounded. You can ask Hikari about the details if you wish, but basically my parents have decided that I will fail my exams if I don't stay home and study. Anyway, if I want to get home without getting in trouble, I had better go. I have something that I have to do between here and home and it might take a while. Have fun at the movies- and yell at Takeru for me if he and Hikari get too intimate. I'll see you tomorrow," he left before they could ask him about what it was he had to do.

"That was weird- he usually walks with us," Yamato commented as he slung his bag over his shoulder. Sora shrugged, feeling more comfortable now that Taichi had left them, and feeling guilty about that too.

"He obviously wants to go and meet his secret girlfriend. He'll tell us about it eventually. You know Taichi- he tells us everything once he knows what is going on himself. Now come on otherwise we'll be late for Takeru and Hikari. Taichi will tell us when and if he wants… well, we'll find out somehow. But we really have to go!" she grabbed his hand and began to pull him along. He had to admit that she had a point. They _always_ found out about things like this. All they had to do is wait for Taichi to open up. If not… they had their ways of getting the information, even if Taichi was being stubborn. He smiled as he caught up to Sora so that she didn't have to drag him around. He put Taichi and the letter out of his mind and began to listen to Sora. After all, even if Taichi was having girl problems, it wasn't his problem anyway.

* * *

Taichi knew that his friends weren't following him, so he walked slowly to the soccer pitch. He had no idea what Jun wanted to talk to him about. He remembered when he had first met the older sister of Daisuke Motimya. He knew Daisuke because he was the leader of the younger digidestined, and because he played soccer. Taichi had met Jun when he, Yamato and Koushiro had organized a camping trip so that the younger digidestined would not be reported as missing when they had stayed in the Digital World over night. Jun had found out about the trip, and that Yamato was going, and so she had tried to go along with them. Taichi had found her slightly annoying at the time because she was always drooling over Yamato and trying everything to get the blond rock star to date her. Ever since Yamato had begun to date Sora however, Jun had seemingly stopped her obsession with Yamato. In fact, Taichi had even spoken with her a few times without being forced to speak with her, and he had found that she had become a much nicer person and much more interesting than when she had been obsessed with his friend. He had only spoken with her a few times however, and mainly about school, and so he didn't know why she wanted to talk with him now.

The soccer pitch was practically empty for the moment. Taichi knew that it wouldn't be empty for long- a little kid's team usually practiced from after four o'clock and after that Daisuke's team would practice. Jun was sitting on one of the benches for spectators, staring up at the sky. Taichi paused for a moment to study her. She wore their school uniform, but she had a bandage around her right wrist. He wondered briefly if she had hurt it badly. At that moment she looked down from the sky and turned her attention to her watch. Taichi checked his own watch and saw that it was already ten to four. He looked back up at Jun. She looked disappointed at what her watch told her. He watched as she sighed and then looked once again to the sky. He knew that she doubted if he would come. Finally making up his mind, he crossed the pitch. As his shadow passed over her, Jun looked at him to see who it was. When she saw that it was him, she smiled.

"Thank you for coming here Taichi. I know that you probably didn't want to come, but thank you for coming. You have no idea how much it means to me," she said all of this rather quickly, and Taichi found it hard to keep up. Once he had figured out what she had said, he was genuinely surprised.

"I came because I wanted to come. Sorry I'm late; I got caught up with something. Now, what do you want to talk about?" she took a deep breath, and Taichi felt as though he were about to be put to a test. He had no idea if he was going to pass.

"I was wondering… would you go out with me? I genuinely like you for who you are; I have no ulterior motives and I don't care if Yamato jumps off a bridge. I know that this is sudden and you probably think that I'll act all scary and obsessed like I did with Yamato, but I promise that I won't," she looked at him with a strange look in her eyes. His mouth felt dry. He had not been expecting this. He felt as though she were depending on him, that whatever he said would determine her fate. He opened his mouth to say no, but the words wouldn't come. She had faced rejection so many times; he couldn't let her face it again. Not now, when he knew what it felt like.

"Okay, I will. I trust you," he told her quietly. Her face lit up at his words. He was happy that she was smiling, but he honestly had no idea what he was doing. He had only ever had one girlfriend, and that hadn't lasted long.

"Would it be okay if we didn't really tell anyone about it for a while though? I haven't really had a boyfriend before and if Yamato found out… he would just think that I was trying to make him jealous and I don't want to drag you into that sort of thing," her cheeks were red, and he assumed it was from embarrassment. He had to admit that she looked cute when she was embarrassed.

"It would be great if we didn't tell anyone. I know what you mean with Yamato… and I have only had one girlfriend and that really didn't go well, so it's all good with me if we don't make it public for a while," it was her turn to smile.

"Thank you so much!" she jumped up from where she was seated on the bench and grabbed his hand, pulling him off the bench. To his surprise, her behaviour didn't annoy him, or even scare him. In fact, her hyperactive attitude seemed to be contagious. He was smiling and he had no idea why, "Do you have time to get some ice-cream? I mean… to sort of celebrate. You don't have to if you have to go home but… what do you say?" He laughed and shrugged at her question.

"I don't mind. But I have to tell you something. I'm kind of grounded and I'm only allowed out once a month except for soccer, so I won't be able to do much with you," but even this did not dismay her.

"I'm sure we can find a way. That is only if you want to you know. You do chemistry, right? Well, I'm a chemistry tutor. I tutor another girl in our class, so we could organize with your parents for me to be your chemistry tutor. Of course, I'd actually tutor you a lot of the time, but yeah… only if you want of course," she said hurriedly and she stopped and turned so that she was facing him, "I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to. I just want to make that clear, okay?" He laughed at her eagerness.

"It's okay Jun- I am here because I want to be, remember? The tutoring sounds like a good idea- my parents would fall for that, and even if they ask Hikari, she'd believe it too. And it would also stop Daisuke from becoming suspicious. And then… once we are comfortable, we can tell everyone about it. Except for my parents… not about the tutoring thing anyway," it was her turn to laugh. She turned again and began to lead the way again. Her hand still remained in his, even when he caught up so that she didn't have to lead him anymore. Somehow, he felt as though he were doing well in this unseen test… although he still had no idea why he had agreed to it.

* * *

That night, after spending two hours with Jun at the ice-cream café, Taichi decided that he would ask his parents about tutoring. His chemistry grades were not overly horrible- he _was_ scraping Cs, no matter what anyone thought- but he felt that if he approached his parents with a positive attitude about tutoring, he could get them to agree. They would agree to anything as long as it improved his grade. He decided that it would be best to broach the subject over dinner, where his parents were more alert than later in the evening, but not overly alert. They often talked about school and grades over dinner anyway.

"How was your day at school Taichi? Did you learn anything really interesting?" his mother asked, giving him the perfect opportunity to mention tutoring. He took it.

"Well… we learnt about nucleophilic reactions or something in chemistry, but I really have no idea what they are going on about. Something about electrons I think. I have a test on it next Friday, but I don't think I'll ever learn it properly," he complained. His parents exchanged glances.

"Is there any way in which we can help you to improve your grades? A tutor or something like that? I don't know any chemistry tutors, but I'm sure we can find one," Taichi felt as though this was all too easy. It was almost as if it were meant to be.

"I know someone who tutors chemistry… she's in my chemistry class, but she gets straight As and gets everything right on every test. She told me once that it was because chemistry was her natural subject or something," he said this slowly, as though he was not overly thrilled about the option of a tutor. He didn't want to raise suspicion. Hikari raised an eyebrow though, so he didn't really achieve his goal.

"A girl huh? Who would this girl be?" it was obvious that Hikari thought that he was just trying to get out of the house. He hoped that his answer would suggest that he wasn't however.

"Jun Motimya," Hikari made a face and turned to their parents.

"He's not trying to get out of being grounded. He must really want a tutor if he wants to see Jun," Taichi found that he had to hold himself back otherwise he would blow his cover by defending Jun. During the two hours that he had spent with her that afternoon, he had found that he had known basically nothing about her. And he had been surprised that she had known quite a bit about him, but not enough to scare him. She had good observation skills. That was one of the things he had learnt. She also loved vanilla ice-cream.

"Are you sure that this girl can help you with chemistry?" his father asked, looking at him a little suspiciously.

"Yeah, she can. I asked her a question today about a reaction between hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide and she explained it to me really well. And she did it quickly as well, because it was between maths and chemistry. I think that my grades would improve if she tutored me," his parents looked at one another again, before his mother sighed.

"Ask her for tuition tomorrow Taichi. We'll see how you do on your next test to see if she is any good. If you do well- if you get a B or better- then this girl really is a good teacher," he tried his best to hide his happiness. He didn't want his parents to think that he was _happy_ about getting a tutor after all. Hikari sent him a strange look. They finished dinner off with a conversation about a new phone system at his mother's work, but after dinner Hikari hunted him out in his room.

"What was all that about Taichi?" he tried to look as innocent as was possible without overdoing it. She didn't budge.

"What was all what about? Are you talking about me getting Jun to tutor me in chemistry? I just want to improve my grades. I'll never get into politics if I don't study hard," Hikari still didn't move, but she opened her mouth to speak.

"Taichi, the phone's for you," his mother called through the door. Taichi hadn't even heard the phone ring, and from the expression on his sister's face, she hadn't heard it either. He quickly grabbed the phone off of his mother.

"Hello," he didn't know who it really was, but he had a feeling that it was Jun. His feeling was confirmed when she spoke.

"Hey Taichi, its Jun. Have you spoken to your parents about tutoring yet?" they had discussed what they would do over ice-cream, and they had decided that she would call. It just made things easier… and they could plan a date for the next day without coming under too much suspicion.

"Yeah… my parents would like you to tutor me for the test on Friday and if my grades improve, then they would like you to become my chemistry tutor until the exams are over," Hikari was watching him closely, but after a moment she left the room. She had obviously felt that he just wanted to be tutored.

"Cool!" she sounded very excited about it, "The test is on nucleophilic reactions, right? I'll be able to explain it to you easy. And because you're my brother's friend… I'll only charge you a quarter of the usual rate. The first session is tomorrow afternoon- as the test is on Friday, we have to start early in case you have a lot of questions. Is that okay?" They had spoken about payment too. They had decided that he would pay her for the times she tutored him, and then they would spend the money he was using for her to 'tutor' him on the other occasions to get something to eat, or to see a movie or something. He felt that it was a good plan.

"Thank you very much for helping me," they had planned to make this call short, so that no one would get suspicious.

"No problem. Just call me if you have any questions or anything. Anyway, is Hikari there? Daisuke wants to speak with her," they said their mutual goodbyes and then he handed the phone over to Hikari, who grimaced as an over-enthusiastic voice called out 'hello' to her from the other end of the phone. As Hikari left his room with the phone, Taichi smiled. Everything was going to plan.

"Was that your tutor?" his mother asked, coming into the room to talk to him. She sat down in his desk chair, showing that she meant to say something.

"Yeah, she said that since the test is on Friday, she wants to start as early as possible so that I have time to ask some questions before the test. She said that the first session is tomorrow, 3:45 until 4:45 at her apartment," Taichi recited obediently. His mother frowned.

"Why is it at her apartment? Can't she come here?" he shrugged, pretending that he didn't know her reasoning.

"I think that she just feels more comfortable if it is at her apartment. Mum, she is my chemistry tutor. She is just going to be bringing my grades up. She's Daisuke's sister… I'm sure that you have met her at least once," she nodded slowly, as if she remembered, but just barely.

"Okay, but remember what we said about your grades. You have to get a B or better on this test, otherwise we will find you another tutor. Do you understand?" he sighed to himself. Why did they all think that he had ulterior motives about this tutor session?

"I understand," she nodded, more to herself than to him, before leaving the room. As she left, Hikari came back in.

"Alright, where were you this afternoon?" he blinked. Why were they all interrogating him?

"I was with a friend," he replied cautiously, "Why?"

"You told Yamato and Sora that you were grounded and so you couldn't go to the movie, but you weren't. You are allowed out once a month and… you hadn't been out this month. You went to see this other friend of yours over your two best friends?" he had to remind himself that she wasn't only a little girl anymore. She was fourteen- and she noticed things too.

"Yes, I saw this other person instead of going to the movies. The plan had originally been to come home this afternoon and not see anyone, but I got a note in my locker and so my plans changed," he only hoped that they stopped being so suspicious about his reasoning and his actions otherwise he and Jun would be forced to explain before they wanted to what was going on, and Jun wouldn't be allowed to tutor him. He never would have thought that the idea of not having Jun as his tutor would ever scare him, but it did now. He didn't understand what was wrong with him. He had only spent a few hours with her that day because he had not wanted to hurt her, and yet now he felt as though he should protect her from the world. Every time Hikari had made a face at the mention of Jun's name, he had wanted to say something to defend his girlfriend. But he couldn't, not unless he wanted to be interrogated further.

"So you weren't just avoiding Yamato and Sora? I knew about your little crush on Sora and if you're still upset about the fact that she and Yamato are a couple now… you can always come to me to talk, okay?" he had to admit that he hadn't been expecting _that_. He had thought that no one had known about his feelings for his best friend, except for Jun, who had confessed that afternoon that she had figured it out.

"You knew about that? It doesn't matter anyway- I'm fine about Yamato and Sora's relationship. They are happy and so I am happy," she frowned, not looking convinced. To tell the truth, he hadn't been happy about the relationship- not until after he had dropped Jun off at her apartment anyway. He was surprised at the change he had gone through in just a few short hours. Was it really possible to forget about feelings you have held for someone for two years in only a few hours? Or was this just a strange and twisted dream that he would awake from in a few minutes time?

"But don't you feel left out? I mean, you three did everything together, and now they are a couple… doesn't it hurt?" he wondered briefly why she was pressing him so hard about this topic. He knew that she cared about him, but this was going a bit far. Then he remembered. She was in a situation a lot like the one that Sora had been in. She had two male best friends, and it seemed as though both of them were falling for her. And she was in love with the younger version of Yamato. And everyone always said that Daisuke was like Taichi, although not so much anymore. She wanted to know how he felt not only to help him, but to stop feeling guilty about her own choices.

"Hikari… it's okay. You are allowed to make your own choices in life. Daisuke may be obsessed with you for the moment, but it will pass. He will be hurt at first, but he will move on. You don't have to feel guilty because of the decisions that you have made in your life may hurt others, okay? As for me… well… I admit that I did feel a little left out at first, but now… I don't mind. I have moved on and in a way I think I am probably going to end up happier than if Sora had made a different choice. I never ever thought that I would take this path in my life but… hey, stranger things have happened!" he grinned and he saw her visibly relax.

"I don't really know what you're talking about with that last bit, but… thank you. I didn't really know what to do- I have basically already started dating T.K- I mean Takeru- but I don't want to hurt Daisuke because I cherish his friendship. Don't worry about me knowing about your feelings for Sora- I was the only one who noticed and I guess that that is only because you're my brother and I know you very well. Anyway… as long as you are okay… I had better let you study. You may have a chemistry tutor, but that won't help your other subjects," he made a face at her as she left, but he knew that she had a point. If he was going to spend time with Jun- and strangely enough he really wanted to- and still pass his exams well enough to get into a politics course at university, then he would have to study every minute that he was not at soccer, school or with his 'tutor.' He groaned softly as he realised the amount of work he was going to have to do. But oddly, he didn't even think of blaming Jun for this situation, even though she was technically the reason. Instead he blamed the school system. He shook all thoughts of blaming people out of his head and pulled out one of his maths books. If he ever wanted to understand differential equations, it didn't matter who was making him work- he just had to learn it. He settled down for a long night of maths study, banishing all other thoughts from his mind. He had to study…

* * *

Taichi looked at his watch for the fiftieth time that lesson. His maths teacher didn't seem to notice. He was droning on about the importance of derivatives in solving problems with containers- or something like that anyway- and there was only five minutes until the end of the day. Only five minutes before he would have to rush to meet Jun, to go to his first tutoring session. He was excited. He had stayed awake late into the night after he had finished studying; trying to puzzle out what was going on. He had agreed to date Jun because he hadn't wanted to hurt her. But where had this excitement and happiness come from? He couldn't have forgotten that he had never really _like_-liked Jun before, could he? It wasn't like he could hate her when he first met her, and then in one afternoon, after talking with her for two hours, love her? He had always believed in fairy tales. He had believed that he would love Sora and she would love him and then one day they would get married and be happy together. He believed in love at first sight… after all, he remembered that he had felt weird when he had met Sora, and he could not remember not feeling special whenever he had been around her. But he hadn't loved Jun when he had first met her.

'_Wait a minute… who is saying that I love her now? Why do I keep on asking myself why I love her, when I don't even know her? Argh! What on Earth is wrong with me?' _he couldn't believe this was happening. How could one girl make him this crazy?

"Uh… Taichi… we can go now," he stared at Sora in surprise. He hadn't even noticed that the lesson had ended, "I know that you're dreading going to Jun's for tutoring, but you have to leave here sometime." He blinked and began gathering his books together. Sora just watched him, waiting for him to hurry up so that they could walk together to their lockers, like they did after every maths lesson.

"Yeah, sorry… I guess I wasn't really concentrating on the class," that was the understatement of the year; "All I can say is that I hope Jun is a good tutor otherwise I'm never going to get the grades I need in chemistry."

"Are you okay? I mean… even the thought of a tutor shouldn't make you miss the end of class. You look like you need a long sleep," he just shrugged.

"I had trouble sleeping last night, that's all. I'm sure that I'll be fine tomorrow. Besides, I have soccer tonight and so that will revitalize me," he flashed a smile at her, "Anyway, I had better hurry if I'm going to get to tutoring on time. My parents will kill me if they find out that I was late," the left the classroom together, and walked in silence until they reached Taichi's locker. Yamato was already waiting for Sora with his bag all packed.

"We'll see you tomorrow then Taichi. Have fun at your tutoring session. You'll have to tell us about it tomorrow, okay? See you then!" Sora said cheerfully. Yamato merely nodded at him before the couple left him at his locker. He had five minutes to get to the soccer pitch, where Jun would take him to her apartment so they could study. He planned to focus on what she was teaching him- he _had_ to get a B or better otherwise he would never get to see Jun.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked him a soon as he arrived at the pitch, "Nucleophilic reactions can be tricky to explain, but I have a plan to get you to understand them." He didn't understand how she could sound so happy about chemistry. It was a school subject.

"Why do you love chemistry so much?" he asked her as they began walking together, "I mean… it's so hard to understand and it doesn't really mean much in reality. It's only useful if you plan to be a scientist or something." She giggled.

"But everything can be useful in the real world. Chemistry is a subject that you can apply to everything if you look at it laterally. Take Nucleophilic reactions for an example. A nucleophile is something that seeks a reaction with a positive ion or a nucleus. Let's just say… let's think of Yamato as a nucleophile, and Sora as an electrophile. You are an electrophile and I am a nucleophile. Now, nucleophiles want to react with something that is positive, and electrophiles are positive and want to react with negative things. However, one nucleophile cannot react with another nucleophile, as it wouldn't work. So in other words, Yamato would not go out with me, because he and I are the same. And Sora couldn't go out with you, because she was looking for her opposite to 'react' with. So, in obscure ways, you can apply chemistry to the real world. Do you understand?" he was surprised that he actually did understand.

"So no matter how hard a nucleophile tries, it can never react with another nucleophile because in the end, they push each other away, but a nucleophile searches all of its life for an electrophile because it is always attracted to positive things, right?" she nodded, "I get it! I actually understand this now!"

"See? Once you apply things to the real world, it all makes sense. Now if only the teachers would learn that then everyone would find chemistry easy," they arrived at the Motimya apartment and she unlocked the door, "Now Daisuke is probably here so hopefully he won't bother you too much. Anyway, now that you know a little about nucleophiles…"

* * *

"Hey Taichi, how did your tutoring session go yesterday?" Yamato asked him, a sly grin crossing his features, "Did Jun actually tutor you or just sit there asking you questions about guys you know?" Sora, Koushiro and Yamato were sitting at their regular lunch table, and Taichi had just joined them. Mimi Tachikawa, another of their friends, slipped into her seat next to Sora. She gave Yamato a curious look before turning her gaze to Taichi. She had been absent from school the day before, and so she hadn't heard about Taichi's tutor.

"She happens to be a very good tutor. I think that I can actually understand nucleophilic reactions now," he tried very hard to keep his tone neutral, but he wanted to just punch Yamato like he would have done in the Digital World, "She is getting paid to teach me chemistry and so she taught it to me. I don't see what the big deal is about me having a tutor all of a sudden. I _need_ good grades and so I am doing everything to get them. It's no big deal." Koushiro coughed purposefully.

"It's not the fact that you have a tutor that is astonishing," the red head said calmly, "But why didn't you ask me if I could help you with chemistry? I may be in the year level below you, but I know all about nucleophilic reactions, and most of the other subjects that you are learning. So why did you ask Jun when you could have easily asked me to help you? That's all we are wondering about." Taichi had to think very quickly to get out of this one.

"How many times have you tried to explain things to me, Koushiro? And every time I don't understand what you are saying. I thought that if I got you to tutor me, I'd get nowhere. I had no idea what Jun taught like, and so I thought that I would try learning from her, to see if I could understand it then. Is everyone satisfied now?" he was allowed to be irritated with them. They just wouldn't leave him alone.

"Not really," Mimi told him, "But it'll do for now. You are hiding something from us. Don't deny it because it's really obvious. We don't know what you're hiding, but it seems to be centered on what happened yesterday afternoon from what I can gather. You didn't go to the movies with these guys and yet you spent the afternoon with 'a friend.' Who were you with?"

"It doesn't matter. You guys think that there is a link between who I was with yesterday and my decision to get Jun to tutor me, don't you? I really wish that you would just drop the subject. Please," Sora could see that he was on the point of violence, so she gave her boyfriend a pointed 'look'. She heard him sigh with disappointment, but she didn't want Taichi to resort to violence in order to avoid their questions.

"Here are the notes I promised you yesterday," a new voice cut into their conversation. Yamato tensed beside her, and she had to resist the urge to move tables herself. Jun handed Taichi a stack of notes on A4 paper and he took them with a reluctant sigh, "Just ask me if you have any questions about it. And remember you have another session tomorrow at 3:45 again. I'll see you then." Taichi heard the sighs of relief as his girlfriend walked away. Why did they still hate her? He decided to find out.

"Guys, Jun is not a horrible monster. With the way you guys were acting just then you'd have thought that she was about to rip your heads off or something," he looked down at the notes. From what he could see, Jun had used soccer as the example for whatever the notes were about.

"Well… you know what she was like when she was chasing after me," Yamato said slowly, "I felt as though I had a monster chasing after me." The others giggled, but Taichi did not look amused.

"But has she bothered you since you started going out with Sora? I bet you that she hasn't. She is acting normal around you now, so why can't you do the same around her?" they were looking at him in surprise. Taichi had been one of the ones who had been the most scared of Jun only a few weeks before, and yet now he was defending her. What was going on?

"Whoa, maybe Jun is Tai's secret girlfriend," Yamato grinned, "That would explain why he suddenly wants to defend her." Taichi just glowered at him, hoping that they would take what Yamato had said for nonsense. It was way too early for people to find out that it was true.

"Don't be stupid Yamato. Just because I stand up for someone doesn't mean that I'm dating them, otherwise I would be dating all of you guys. It's just that I spent some time with Jun yesterday when she was tutoring me and she was a perfectly normal human being. That is all." Yamato just shrugged and laughed.

"I know that Taichi, I just like getting you annoyed. You should know that by now. You're not crazy enough to date Jun anyway," Taichi appeared satisfied with Yamato's response, as he didn't say anything, but he didn't stop glowering dangerously at the blonde. She decided to change the subject before they started the next World War.

"It's Hikari's birthday soon, isn't it? Is she having a party or is she spending the day with Takeru?" it was the first question that popped into her head. Besides, talking about Hikari always calms Taichi down.

"Uh… I think that she's having a small party. But her birthday is a month away, so I don't think she has really started organizing anything yet," Taichi stopped glowering at Yamato and began to flip through the notes that Jun had left him, "It's hard to believe that she is going to be fourteen. I bought her birthday present last week and I realized that she is getting older. At least she has Takeru at the moment to keep her busy." He knew that his little sister loved Takeru at that moment, but something told him that her feelings for him were going to change. Everyone had just taken it for granted that Hikari and Takeru would end up together, but Taichi now knew that when it came to love, nothing was set in concrete.

"At the moment? Are you saying that you think they'll break up?" Yamato had every right to be interested in this topic, as Takeru was his younger brother, "Is Hikari already getting sick of him?" Taichi shook his head quickly.

"No, it's nothing like that at all. Hikari thinks that Takeru is the best thing in the world right now. I just have a hunch that something is going to go wrong there. I might be wrong, but I can't help sensing something there. All that matters at the moment however, is that the two of them are basically dating," Yamato looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I see what you mean. Let's hope that nothing like that happens however. I know that they're only fourteen- I mean thirteen- and so it's a bit early to talk about things like this, but it's like they are destined to be together," the bell rang at that moment. Koushiro looked at his watch, and then looked at the others.

"Uh… why is the lunch bell ringing now? It's only been ten minutes!" they looked around in confusion. Most of the students were still sitting down, frowning as they eyed the clocks around the room.

"Attention all students; I am sorry that the bell rang- it was supposed to be the fire alarm. Please evacuate to the oval for emergency roll call. I repeat, everyone is to report to the oval now," the principal announced over the loud speaker. Groans erupted from students all around the lunch room, but they all stood and filed out towards the oval.

"Why do they have to choose lunch time to have the fire drill? I'm hungry and I want to finish my lunch!" Mimi cried out, staying where she was. Koushiro sighed and pulled her up by her arm. He had to do this with only one hand, as his other carried his precious lap top. She squealed as she was pulled from her chair, and she grabbed at her sandwich with her free hand.

"Come on Mimi, if this really was a fire you would have burnt to death by now!" Koushiro told her firmly, refusing to release her wrist as they followed their fellow students outside. Sora grabbed Yamato's hand and leant so that she could whisper in his ear as they walked.

"Is it me, or are Koushiro's cheeks a little pink? Do you think he has a crush on Mimi?" Yamato casually glanced at Koushiro and smirked.

"Yep. I think our little computer genius has fallen for the pink princess. This is going to be interesting…" Sora wished that she hadn't spoken now. She had a feeling that Yamato was going to have a little 'talk' with Koushiro. She hoped that her boyfriend didn't try to change Koushiro too much- she personally thought that Koushiro was perfect for Mimi just the way he was. Her eyes drifted to Taichi, who was walking on the other side of Yamato. He was looking straight ahead, the notes Jun had given him dangling from his right hand. He looked deep in thought, which was odd, considering that he had once told her that thinking was something people did when they were alone. Then again, that had been in the Digital World, when they had been sitting around a fire keeping watch. She supposed that he had grown up a lot in that time. It saddened her in a way to think that he was growing up. She had always thought of Taichi as being immature, and that was where he had gotten his everlasting energy from. Now that he was older, he seemed a little more mature and serious, and that just did not seem to suit him. Then again, she was glad that now he could think before he acted- this way he could get himself out of trouble after pulling a prank. He didn't need her to do that for him anymore.

"Hey look, it turns out that this wasn't a drill," she looked at what Yamato was pointing to. Smoke was pouring out of the physics building, and four fire trucks had arrived. Koushiro almost dropped his lap top as he stared at the building in shock.

"No! I just installed all of the latest software onto those computers so that the physics lab could actually try to measure the speed of…" his words became inaudible as he sank to the ground.

"Stop worrying about those stupid machines! I'm sure that you can install the software onto them in no time once the computers are working again and then the research can start again. But look at the building! It's going to look so ugly with that black smudge on it," Mimi told him soothingly. Taichi, Sora and Yamato could only laugh at the look of horror that crossed Koushiro's face.

* * *

Taichi rushed into his apartment where his parents were setting the table for dinner, a huge grin on his face. His mother eyed him suspiciously. She knew that he generally only smiled like that when he was up to something.

"What are you up to Taichi?" his grin slipped a little, but he still looked very excited. His father began to eye him cautiously as well.

"I just got my chemistry test results back," he announced, "Look at this!" He pulled some papers out of his bag and handed them to her. Her eyes widened as she saw the big 'A' at the top of the test. He had been getting Cs ever since he had started chemistry. His friends had tried to help him, but his grades hadn't improved. Now that he had this girl tutoring him however, he had gotten an A. She must be a good tutor.

"Well done! That girl needs to be given a medal for improving your marks this much!" Taichi just continued to grin. She had never seen him so pleased at getting a good mark. It was rather suspicious actually, "Taichi, we should invite your tutor over for dinner tomorrow, to celebrate your mark. I want to meet this girl." He shrugged.

"Okay, but I don't know if she'll be able to come. I would warn Hikari about this too… Hikari and Jun don't really get along at the moment," he didn't really know what else to say. After all, he couldn't refuse his mother's offer- if he did then she would know that something was up. Jun was just going to have to come, or make up an excuse to get out of it.

"Go and call her now and ask her. I'll make my Spinach Omelet Surprise," he almost thought about begging her not to come, but as his parents would be listening to the call… he sighed inwardly and crossed to the phone.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi Daisuke, is your sister there?" he wanted to make this call as short as possible. After all, he had spoken to her right after he had seen his result, and they wanted to keep their relationship a secret.

"_Yeah, I'll just get her for you. JUN! Phone! Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow Taichi,"_ he waited as he heard the phone being passed over, "_Hello?"_ Daisuke obviously hadn't bothered telling her who it was.

"Hi Jun, it's Taichi. I'm just calling to invite you over to have dinner with my family tomorrow night. My parents wish to meet the person who has improved my grades so much," it was crucial to sound casual and yet explain the situation to Jun at the same time. He really hoped that she understood. There was a pause for a moment as Jun seemed to be working out what to say.

"_I should be able to make it. But it wasn't me who helped you bring your mark up; it was your hard work. Tell that to your parents,"_ he smiled. She didn't want to take the credit for his mark. He never would have thought that Jun would ever say something like that when he had first met her. But ever since he had started to get to know the real Jun, he had found that almost everything about the old Jun had been a mask. She had been so afraid of being rejected that she had forced herself to be overconfident and loud, so that if she was rejected she could tell herself that they were rejecting the 'other Jun' and not the real her. He was glad that she was being herself now. He was trying to teach her that she was a great person, and that she should be herself all of the time, but he wasn't sure if she had gotten the message yet.

"Thank you, I will. But you have to take at least part of the credit. Anyway, dinner is at 7:30 tomorrow night. We have a tutoring session tomorrow afternoon anyway, so do you want to have that at my apartment, to make it easier?" it was lucky that this session was one that they had planned to actually use as a study session, otherwise he would have killed his parents.

"_Yeah, that'll be fine. I'm sorry, but I have to go now. Daisuke is trying to cook and there's smoke pouring out of the oven. I'll see you tomorrow,"_ he quickly said his goodbyes and put down the phone. His father had disappeared, but his mother was standing in front of him with her arms folded across her chest. She didn't look angry, but a small, knowing smile was on her face.

"Tell me the truth Taichi. Is she your girlfriend?" he stared at her. How did she know? The phone call had been brief and to the point. His grades had shot up dramatically whilst Jun had been tutoring him- well, it had only been one chemistry test, but he had gotten an A in Maths as well because he had studied extra- and so his mother should have just thought that Jun was his tutor.

"Uh… Why would you think that?" his voice sounded strange even to his ears. He knew that his mother wouldn't buy it. As expected, her smile grew wider. She knew all right.

"Your eyes told me, as well as your behaviour over the past two weeks. When I asked you to invite her over for dinner, you seemed to panic slightly, but when you were on the phone… your eyes lit up. You've been happy ever since she became your tutor, even though you have been spending most of your time studying. And I know that you have been talking to her on the phone late at night- your father and Hikari assumed that you were talking to Mimi or Sora or another of your female friends, but I heard you ask for Jun one time and I can put two and two together. Why didn't you tell me that she was your girlfriend?" He sighed. Why did his mother have to try to interfere with his life? It just didn't seem fair.

"Well, to be honest, she only became my girlfriend the day that I asked for tutoring. I didn't think that you would want to have me dating the girl who was to tutor me, so I just didn't tell you. And Hikari doesn't really like Jun at all and we didn't really want people to find out that we were dating and… so I didn't tell you. You're not mad at me, are you?" she didn't say anything for a moment. She seemed lost in her own thoughts. He took a step back, hoping that he could get away without her noticing, but he was out of luck.

"No, I'm not mad at you exactly, but I am a little disappointed," he winced. He hated it when she said that, "I think that it is romantic to be trying to hide your relationship like this. And you actually studied together too- that helps. If you continue to study as you are, then I won't mention to anyone about your girlfriend and I will let her continue to be your tutor. But that is only if you study. Is that clear?" He nodded; amazed that she was being so nice.

"Sure Mum, I promise that I will study. I actually kind of like getting good marks," she smiled. The whole situation seemed very freaky. He wondered if he was going to wake up in a minute and find that this was all a dream.

"When I was your age, I 'tutored' your father. His parents caught on quickly too. Just don't do anything stupid and keep studying. I'll be watching you. Make sure that she comes to dinner tomorrow," and with that she walked away, humming a tune under her breath. He could only stare after her in shock. Hikari arrived at the apartment and waved a hand in front of his face.

"What's wrong? You look as though you saw a ghost. Is something up?" he shook his head slowly, still amazed at his mother's behaviour.

"I just never thought that I would see the day that Mum…" he trailed off as he started towards his bedroom. Hikari just raised an eyebrow at him before leaving for her room. After all, she had always known that her brother was weird.

* * *

"Hey Jun, wait up, I need to talk to you!" Taichi ignored the startled look on Yamato's face- he had been talking to Yamato when he had seen Jun- and hurried after his girlfriend.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked him once he had caught up with her.

"My mother knows. She figured out that you weren't just my tutor. That's why she asked you to dinner or one of the reasons anyway," he told her, watching her face carefully. She didn't seem to panic at all.

"Is that a problem for you?" she asked instead. He didn't quite know what to say. He had expected her to act shocked or upset, but she took it all so calmly, "As long as I'm allowed to see you and tutor you, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem. As you haven't said that I'm not your tutor anymore, I'm assuming that I am still your tutor. Am I right?" He nodded.

"I don't really mind- everything is basically the same as before, but now my mother knows; that's all. I thought that you might be uncomfortable with that, that's all," she smiled and shook her head.

"To tell you the truth, I'm a little scared of how comfortable I feel around you. I mean… I've read heaps of books and see a lot of movies where people feel really comfortable with others who are practically strangers because they loved them, but I never actually thought that real life was anything like that. Now I realize that sometimes it can happen in reality. The only reason I didn't want others to find out about this relationship was because if others knew, I thought it would be really uncomfortable and awkward. I wanted to see what it would be like without others knowing first. But now I know that it'll always be fine, no matter what. So it doesn't bother me if people know about it," what she was saying made sense to him. He had felt the exact same way. Well… he hadn't read as many books as she had, but he had seen a lot more films, even though most of them weren't romance films. He had thought that this type of thing was impossible- but it had happened to him now.

"It's the same with me. I don't really care if other people find out. I feel so comfortable around you that I don't care if they ignore me for the rest of my life," okay, so maybe that wasn't completely true, but he knew that she understood. He grabbed her hand and began to lead her over to the table he had been sitting at before with Yamato, Sora, Koushiro and Mimi.

"Hey, where are we going?" she asked. He just grinned over his shoulder at her.

"I'm just going to tell these guys that I'm going to go eat lunch with you, is that okay?" her cheeks turned a little red, and her smile grew a lot larger.

"Sure, let's go!" he had only known the real Jun for a week, but she had made him realize that anything was possible. He had passed the test- not just the chemistry test, but the test he had sensed when Jun had asked him out. It had only been a week, but he had fallen in love with Jun Motimiya, and he couldn't be happier.

The End.

Litanya: Well, that's my attempt at 'something different.' Please review… I know that they don't seem to be completely in character, but I tried. Jun just seemed to me to be someone who was putting up a façade to try and make friends, but I liked her. And I know that she is technically older, but hey, I can do what I like.


End file.
